Doppelgänger
by Wicked Buggy
Summary: Its about 25-30 years since the last Game. A new group of friends falls into the trap, and Julian is free once more; and stunned to find that someone who looks just like Jenny is in his house! How will this new group fair against Julian and his new partner in crime, a soul eating Demon like himself. Rated M for language & later material. Horrible at summaries, but give it a chance!


_-I do not own anything to do with the Forbidden Games Novels. They are owned by LJ Smith, as is the game used in this story, any references to past characters, and of course the infamous villain._

 _I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to read the AN at the bottom._

"See you soon!" Lilith hung up the phone, flopping backwards onto the sofa next to her brother- or rather, her brother figure, Hunter. Hunter was the big brother kids dreamed of having as only children. He was kind, gave the best advice he could, but respected your privacy. He and Lilith got along splendidly; he hid away in his room and gamed when he wasn't at work, whereas she always had her nose in a book on some surface or another in their apartment. Turned out two introverts living together worked out well. Hunter was cute in the brother sort of way too; the failed attempt at a man bun in his course brown hair; the caring brown eyes, tan skin and the average figure and height. In total contrast, Lilith was pale and frail looking, slender and tall. Her hair was platinum blonde and stick straight, the ends just reaching the tops of her thighs. Her face was soft looking, like a painted doll with dark blue, almost purple-ish eyes, framed with thick lashes. Loli beauty, as Hunter liked to call it.

"Which Gossip Girl was that?" Hunter grumbled, his eyes fixated on the TV in front of them, his headset sitting on only one of his ears, the other exposed to hear Lilith.

"Iris- and we're not the Gossip Girls. That show was dreadful to watch." Lilith shook her head, shifting on the couch so that she was facing him, stretching her legs out across his and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Don't let Ser hear you say that." Hunter laughed, jolting forward as he took down an enemy, or smite a dude or whatever. Lilith glanced at the TV as he twitched a few more times, pulling back before he died too. "Woo! That was intense!" He hollered, shooting a grin at Lilith, to which she responded with a scoff.

"Intense? Dude, you're playing a girl dressed up as a cat throwing what I can only assume are knives of some sort."

"… You're point being?" Lilith laughed, checking the watch on her wrist with a sigh.

"Wrap it up. We need to clean a bit more before they get here."

…

They arrived in small chunks; Esme and Serenity being the first to join the siblings. Esme the blonde "mean" girl, and Serenity the read headed beauty and notorious gossip. Next was Alec and Iris, the couple as they were; Alec the raven haired sweetheart and Iris golden haired goofball. Following them was Mel, for whom they were hosting this party for. Mel had dyed gray hair; the only rebellious thing she'd ever done in her life according to her friends. With the majority present, and the fact that Iris had brought beer, the party started shortly after Mel had stepped foot in the door. They drank together, dancing to old music just because, taking turns showing youtube videos, and of course it bubbled down to truth or dare at some point. It was at this point that their last guest, Chase, arrived.

"BOOOOOOOO!" Iris hollered from her spot on the floor. "You're beyond late you slut!" She giggled, calling him out the moment the door closed behind him.

"Shove it lightweight." Chase grumbled as he plopped down on the floor next to Esme. Chase was the flirt; Esme, Serenity and Lilith had met him in high school; though only thanks to his persistent hitting on Serenity and Esme- thankfully Lilith wasn't his type. He was everyone crush back then, and that didn't disappear once they'd entered university, with his blonde "swooshy" hair, hazel eyes and he had the whole jock type going for him, playing both football and basketball. After so many years of hitting on the two girls, the group had kind of just absorbed him.

"What crawled up your ass?" Serenity questioned, taking a drink of her beer before passing an unopened one to him.

"Nuthin; don't worry about it." He replied. "So what are we doing? You're all in a circle, that usually means truth or dare. Did I walk in at truth or dare?" And just like that his eyes lit up and there was a bigass grin on his face. Every other person in the room rolled their eyes at him, giving him all the confirmation that he needed. "Well, don't let me interrupt; who's turn is it?"

"Uhhhhh I think it was Hunters." Alec responded after a moment of thought. All eyes turned to him as he brought a finger up to his lips, mock thinking who he would deem his victim.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm….. HMMMMMMMMMM."

"Would you just fucking pick already? No one here is getting any younger." Esme grumbled, taking a swig.

"Well since you're SOOOOO eager, lets go with you Little Miss Snob." Hunter turned his eyes to her, arching an eyebrow. With a resigned sigh, Esme motioned for him to get on with it. "Well, truth or dare?"

"Ugh… Truth."

"Wuss."

"Don't yo-"

"Guys. Not now." Lilith interrupted, ending that before it started.

"Right. Truth. Ohhhkaaay… Hmm. Why are you so self centered all the time?" Hunter shot out, a fake smile on his face. The entire room groaned and Esme glared at him.

"I can't help it- I'm just too amazing not to be, obliviously." Esme responded with grace, knowing better to start something further before Lilith shanked her. "Alright… Mel, I choose you."

And on it went, round the circle two or three times before the group tired of the game. The had exhausted all their options except the board game Iris had brought with her; Lilith had put her in charge of games and apparently an old vintage board game was the best option. She claimed to have found it in this old rustic witch's shop somewhere downtown. Normally they would have just denied the game, but they really had nothing else to do, they were out of booze, no one could drive after drinking, and it was too early to sleep.

So they set up the game; it was a dollhouse in shape, made of cardboard cut outs. However old this game was, the house looked older, the cardboard yellowing slightly and the images peeling off in some spots. Once the house was set up, they moved on to step two.

"According to the rules, we're supposed to take three blank cards each, and a doll cut out; on each paper we write one Fear, one Insecurity and one Secret- Oh! And it specifically says no superficial secrets; only the really juicy stuff!" Serenity read off the instruction sheet with an intrigued giggle. "For the dolls, you're supposed to draw yourself; that will be the piece you move across the game." So with a few complaints and grumbles that's what they did, using coloured pencils Lilith had from an art class in high school. "The goal is to make it to the turret at the top. Apparently it's a haunted house, with a different nightmare in each room as you work your way up."

"Way to go Iris, you picked a game worse than an Ouija Board." Chase groaned, scribbling on his paper.

"It also says we need to watch out for the 'Shadow man.' Whoever that is." Serenity put the instructions down, working on her own pieces now. It would seem that all of them struggled with what to write down; none of them wanting to let anyone else know the answers. While they worked Mel offered some insight to the 'Shadow man', relating him to a dark demon who brings nightmares; and should he catch you he'll make you confess your secrets. None of them believed her, but it left Esme with an uneasy feeling as she looked down at her blank cards. On the doll she'd coloured blonde hair, wavey, and used the same colour for her eyes. Then she grabbed black and coloured all her clothing in with it. Good enough, though she still didn't know what to write down. Eventually she settled on something, hoping that the group would tire of the game long before it came to reading these out loud. They placed their cards on the top of the terrace, and the dolls at the bottom of the house.

"Alright. Now we just need to find the Shadow man piece." Serenity said, and Iris shuffled around the box until she found it, a paper doll like theirs, expect much more detailed with shiny blonde hair, sharp blue eyes that felt like they were staring right into your soul. Esme stiffened while she looked at it as Iris held it up; something about his face gave her goosebumps.

"Esme, are you alright?" Lilith whispered next to her, starling her.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Im fine. Just tipsy still." She smiled and waved off Lilith's concerns. After a moment, the pale girl nodded and turned back to the game. A loud squeal left Serenity's lips and she turned to Chase, showing him the instructions.

"Apparently we have to recite an Oath of some kind before we can play. And the lights need to be dimmed out if that's possible." Chase explained, bringing a hand up to his ear and glaring at Serenity. Hunter nodded, getting up and dimming the lights while the rest questioned it.

"An oath? What kind of oath?" Mel asked, finding it strange.

"It's called the Oath of the Game." Serenity piped up. "We have to swear that we're playing this game of our own free will, and that we believe the game is real." She snorted, excited by the theme. She was a sucker for scary stuff. The group shared glances of "Seriously? How old is this game?" before sighing and motion for Serenity to tell them the Oath. For Esme, the more they explained this game, the less she wanted to play it. A haunted house with a Shadow man lurking to expose the deepest darkest parts of you to everyone else; and it was claiming to be a reality? No thank you.

"So we all just need to swear on those two things, and we're good to go!" Serenity said, excitement clear in her voice. "I swear that I'm playing of my own free will, and I TOTALLY believe that this game is real!" She recited, her left hand over her heart with the right in the air. Slowly they made their way around the circle, all swearing in their own ways, mostly making fun of the game as they did, none of them taking it seriously.

They began the game, each picking a card as instructed, though as they read them, it just seemed like another introduction. "Mine says "You hear footsteps from the room above." … well that's dumb, we're on the top floor." Chase shook his head, tossing the card on the floor.

"Yeah HERE we are! But in the doll house we totally aren't!" Serenity defended. She moved to swipe the card of the floor and put it back properly when a sound had them all frozen.

Footsteps.

All eyes turned to Lilith and Hunter.

"Are they doing construction?" Iris asked.

"It's the middle of the night." Hunter responded immediately. It felt like ice was slowly moving over their skin, goosebumps rising in every direction. Hunter stood up, walking to the door. "I'm just gonna look in the hall- it was probably from next door." It was a logical thought, though when he reached the door and turned the handle, it wouldn't open. He shook it, pulling the door as hard as he could.

"Well. Alright. I'm officially freaked." Alec squeeked, falling onto his back on the floor.

"You guys, its probably nothing! Doors jam all the time, and there are plenty of animals that could run around on the roof." Serenity scoffed at them, moving to take the next card.

"NO!" Esme jolted forward, missing Serenity's hand as she took the next one. Embarressed, she slouched down against the couch. Even Hunter didn't make fun of her.

"Stop being so jumpy." Serenity sighed, reading the card. "You hear the clock strike nine." She read matter of factly. They looked to Lilith.

"You don't have a clock that strikes do you?" Mel asked. Before Lilith could answer they heard the chime of a very old sounding clock, causing them all the jump. All eyes were glued to Lilith's now, even Serenity's whos smile had faded. Lilith slowly shook her head. It chimed again.

"Two." Alec whisered.

Three. Four… Five … Six…

"Seven." Iris gulped, biting on her finger nails. All of them were glued to their spots, including Hunter still standing at the door.

Eight…

Nine.

Darkness fell across the room, like the power had gone out. All the girls screamed, though the guys did too, they wouldn't admit it. After a deafeningly silent moment, Esme opened her mouth to speak.

"Guys-" Wind. There was wind everywhere. It knocked the air out of her; like it was punching her in the gut repeatedly. She couldn't see, she couldn't breathe. Her body felt like it was being pulled and pushed in every direction. And then it stopped.

 **AN** : And that was chapter one! I know it feels really similar to the original, but for the angle I'm going for, it needed to have the same instructions and set up as the original. I don't have a schedule for this story yet, but I will definitely try and be more active than I have been in the past. This will be my first running story with characters that are completely my own, so I'm hoping that gives me more muse to push forward! I look forward to reading your reviews!

 _-Buggy_


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